Summer vacation - Part 2: The happiest, most sleep deprived, place on earth

We pick up where the last post left off...

After 5 days in Oregon, we traveled down to Anaheim for the second half of our vacation.  To say that Sonia had been eagerly anticipating going to Disneyland would be a vast understatement.  We have fallen prey to the marketing forces of Disney, and Sonia is their loyal follower, interested in everything from Minnie Mouse to Ariel, even requesting over and over again that we play various songs from Mary Poppins whenever we are in the car ("Let's Go Fly a Kite" being her current favorite).  I know, I know...I can feel your judgement, but if you've ever heard a 4-year-old sing "Under the Sea" phonetically (getting most of the syllables right, but few of the actual words correct) at full volume with a giant smile on her face, you too would just go with it.  And, yes, I realize that it makes absolutely no sense to take a 1 year old to Disneyland, but Deven was happy to be along for the ride (and Sameer was happy that we had decided to not go all the way to Hawaii, since even the flight to Anaheim was a challenge for Deven).

Okay, caveats aside, we arrived at Disneyland at night and went to bed in short order anticipating a big day ahead.  We had fantastic memories of the last time we were at Disneyland, but what stuck out above all was that it was well worth motivating for the "magic hour" early entry where you can get in an hour before the rest of the world if you are staying at the park.  So, like the good Type A parents we are, we woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning and made our way to California Adventure in search of the the new Little Mermaid ride (which Sonia had watched videos of on the computer at home in joyful anticipation).  Before we got there, we took a brief detour to take Sonia on "Soarin' Over California", her first "real" ride.  Last time we took her she was too short to even consider going on these types of rides, but this time, the older, taller Sonia was anxious to cement her big girl status.  She was truly terrified for most of the ride (literally trembling at some points), but afterwards declared it "lots of fun" (and went on it again later in the trip).  From there we then went to the Little Mermaid, which broke down in the middle of it, which sounds like bad news unless you are a 4 year old "stuck" in Ariel's underwater adventures.  In which case you never want to leave.  After a few minutes, we were on our way again, and the rest of the morning hit more rides (including trying in vain to keep 3-D glasses on Deven's head in Toy Story Mania).  We were anxious to get a lot of rides in as the park was filling up, and as you can see from the picture below we may have pushed it too much as Deven hit the wall on the Mickey Mouse ferris wheel. 

10:32AM:  all smiles on the ferris wheel

10:39AM: yes, we have pushed it too far...naptime awaits

By lunchtime, we were all ready for a bit of a break, so we happily ventured over to Ariel's Grotto for lunch and cocktails (Sameer, me), princesses (Sonia), and whining (Deven).  I will spare you the full set of photos of Sonia meeting each princess, but if you like Sonia will happily share with you her autograph book / photo album (yes, I too am a victim of Disney marketing) and give you the play-by-play.  The short answer is that Ariel is her "favorite" and she gave Mulan a hug despite having no idea who she was.  Good to be polite, I guess.

Sonia and "her favorite" Ariel

The rest of the day was pretty quiet.  We took advantage of staying close to the park to head back to our hotel for some afternoon napping and to hit the swimming pool (sadly, probably the highlight of the day for Sonia, which begs the question why we traveled so far in the first place).  Sameer and I even managed a bit of a date night, taking in some adult rides and catching the fireworks while a sitter stayed with the kids. 

The next day we were again up early and went to Disneyland itself.  The whole thing now is a bit of a blur of character hugs, juice boxes, and reapplying sunscreen.  We went on the rides in Fantasyland first, and Dumbo remained a favorite with Sonia, and Deven too seemed to like it.  It was actually nice that we had been at Disneyland pretty recently (2 years ago), so we were much more relaxed about whether we got to take in a particular ride (hour long wait for the submarines? uh...let's just reminisce about when we saw it last time).  After the park started to really fill up, we escaped to have brunch with "Minnie & Friends" on Main Street.  Sonia and Deven were both overjoyed to discover "colored Cheerios" (Froot Loops), which they now request at the grocery store (note: they are denied...even bad parents have limits).

Minnie Mouse visits our table to sign Sonia's autograph book

Sonia hides under the table when Captain Hook comes by

Some of the character visits are kind of random...who the heck is Mr. Penguin?

In the afternoon, we saw the parade (a big hit again this trip, especially since Sonia could now identify Ariel, Mary Poppins, and others), took in several rides (including Pirates of the Caribbean...where I was keenly aware that Sonia could now understand the themes and wondered it it was good call to go on it), and ultimately escaped in favor of resting at the hotel.  The kids were exhausted (I've never seen them so happy to stay with a sitter), so Sameer and I headed out in the evening solo to go to "Club 33", an exclusive in-park restaurant where a family friend had hooked us up with reservations (leave it to us to find the only place in Disneyland that has a full bar!).  The experience got off to a rough start as Sameer was initially denied entry because he was wearing "flip flops" (they have a very strict dress code, where apparently leather sandals from Nordstrom are not acceptable, but random lace-up shoes you buy at the concession place across from the Indiana Jones ride are).  But, despite that rocky beginning, the meal was fabulous and afterwards we ate dessert and watched Fantasmic (and patted ourselves on the back for not bringing Sonia as the giant fire-breathing dragon threatened Mickey and friends). 

Highlights from the last day at the park included becoming "honorary citizens" of Toon Town (where Mickey lives with his friends), meeting countless characters, buying souvenirs from the various stores, and hitting some of the rides we missed in the first couple of days (quick plug for the outdoor adventure area at California Adventure...we had always just walked by before, but since we had extra time decided to hit it and it was a highlight of the day). 

The "citizenship" ceremony in Toon Town

The two newest citizens

The whole family meets Mickey!

Since it was our last night, we decided to have the sitter stay with just Deven and bring Sonia out with us to catch some of the evening shows.  She was very excited that Mommy (!) won her a stuffed Dumbo at the midway-style rides at California Adventure, and she was hugging it as we settled down to take in the "World of Color" water show (where huge crowds gather...think the Bellagio fountain show on steroids with Disney characters included).  Literally 5 minutes into the show, Sonia declares she has to go to the bathroom, so despite having gone to some effort to secure tickets for the preferred seating area, we had to bail.  We took it as an omen and ran over to Disneyland to get there in time for the fireworks show, which turned out to be even better.  Sonia was entranced as we watched from Main Street...hearing all of her favorite songs, watching both Dumbo and Tinkerbell fly above her as fireworks went off in the background...a truly magical moment.  Enough to make me forget being up with Deven at 5:30am in the hotel lobby so the rest of the family could sleep, the staggering amount of money we spent on food, and even the crazy toddlers-and-tiaras style kids we saw decked out in makeup and princess costumes.  I've got to admit, when Disney decides it's going to wow you, it usually succeeds.

A lazy morning on the last day when we were flying out included one last brunch at Goofy's Kitchen -- perhaps the most kid-friendly menu on earth, where they serve (I kid you not) peanut butter & jelly pizza as well as "worms and dirt" (gummy worms mixed with crushed Oreo cookies).  Right before it was time to leave for the airport, Sonia posed for one last picture.

Until next time!

At the airport, she suggested maybe we should come back "when Deven is two" (cleverly suggesting that it was for his benefit that we would need to return).  We'll see, but for now I'm really glad we went.  And, writing this months later, I think I am finally no longer exhausted from the experience.

Summer Vacation - Part 1

Not sure why it has taken me so long to write this, but before I forget every last memory of it, I wanted to share a few stories about our vacation earlier this summer. 

Side note: actually, I do know why it has taken so long...a combination of our photos only being on the iMac in the kitchen, the kids never leaving me alone if I try to use the computer there, and wanting to spend the time when they are both sleeping doing more fun things like working or drinking wine or both.  Oh, and did I mention my husband has decided to travel for work *all the time*?  Yes, I believe I have mentioned that to a few of you repeatedly.  :-)

Back to our story...we motivated to head up to Oregon at the end of July to attend my 20th high school reunion (yikes), and then head out to the beach for a half week on the coast.  After that, we flew south to Disneyland, but we'll get to that in the next post.  The trip got off to a rough start when I remembered as we were pulling up to SFO that our flight was in fact out of SJC.  If you are curious if it is possible to make it from SFO to SJC in less than 30 minutes during rush hour, the answer is yes if you qualify as a car pool and you drive like an idiot.  Then we got to Portland and discovered that the car I had rented would not even come close to holding the four of us, car seats, and our luggage.  The days of the sedan rental are sadly over.  With our costly upgrade behind us, we finally left the airport trauma behind and things improved steadily from there. The high school reunion was good, but uneventful.  In the age of Facebook, you pretty much know what everyone is up to, which takes away any of the surprise factor.  And having it be a paid bar was crazy bad news, because believe me more free-flowing alcohol would have livened things up considerably.  Sameer was a trooper to attend, was no doubt bored out of his mind, and as a consequence made an excellent drink sherpa.  Leave it to Sameer to make friends with multiple husbands in the line at the bar who were also responsible for drink fetching.  So, good to put the check in the box, and I'll see everyone again in 10 years.

The next day we drove out to Gearhart (with a pit stop at the Vineyard on the way out of town), and spent a wonderful few days hanging out on the coast.  The house my parents rented was super nice, we got to spend time with Kevin & Beth, and even convinced Charity, Kellie & family (plus Gina) to come out for a day.  The kids loved playing in the sand and the waves (although no one but the truly hardy ventures out into the very, very cold water) and running around the yard chasing bubbles.  Sonia got to hit the putting green with Grandpa at the golf course within walking distance, another day we walked to the ice cream shop in "town" (approximately 5 stores comprise all of "downtown"), and best of all the house came with its own playhouse outside stocked with toys (not to mention a sleeping loft reached only by a ladder which Sonia declared at first sight would be her room for the duration of the trip). There was of course lots of wine tasting (these are the Johnsons, after all), good food, and vows all around to repeat it again in the future for a whole week.  A few highlights:

Picking dandelions at the vineyard

"Sissy" gets a hug

Sonia and Jayna scream while the waves "chase them" (while Kellie makes sure no one really gets caught)

Deven sticks to digging in the sand (I know we used this picture in the last post, but it is too cute not to include again)

Sonia proudly points out that she ate 4 pieces of corn at dinner (hollow leg?)

Grandpa tries to explain the comics to Sonia (harder than you think) while Deven mugs for the camera

Grandpa checks on how his future golfers are coming along with their chipping practice

All in all, we were sad to leave Oregon, even if it was to head to Disneyland.  Yet another reminder that some of the best trips are where you get to just hang out with friends and family and not try to cram everything in.  Or, maybe just the best trips are where you rent a place large enough that everyone has their own room to sleep in.  But, we'll leave the stories of the whole family sharing one hotel room for the next post...